Murmur of the Lonely Brook Read Online Free Page B

Nisha was slim with long slender arms but they were powerful; women of the hills worked more like pack-mules and carried loads as heavy as the men carried, or heavier. She was wearing rubber boots and had pulled up her salwar to avoid the splashing mud. Diwakar looked at her exposed calf; she had glowing skin and her build was more athletic then slender. He increased his pace and caught up with her.
    Nisha smiled and asked, “So how was it in the big city? Is it true that there are more cars than people?”
    “Oh yes, there are so many cars. Big cars, very big cars, and special cars.”
    “Did you ride in any of them?”
    “Quite a few,” Diwakar said with an air. He did not mention that it took him half an hour and great courage to cross the road every day. “But somehow, I like my village more than any other place.”
    “Why so? I heard the city was full of beautiful girls,” Nisha said teasingly.
    Diwakar looked at her and wanted to say, Not as beautiful as you . But all he said was, “I haven’t met any.”
    Nisha smiled and kept walking. Diwakar thought for a while and then took out his mobile phone, browsed swiftly and then played a popular song:
    Below the clear blue sky,
    with the sun shining bright,
    let’s ride away my love,
    let me be your knight...
    While in the city, he had loaded all the latest songs onto his mobile phone. He was happy that a song could say much more than he could. He looked at Nisha and gave her one of his adolescent smiles, a smile pure and innocent.
    Nisha looked at Diwakar and felt sad. She knew how strongly he dreamt of joining the army and how passionate he was about donning the uniform. She remembered the many times he told her about the distant peaks and how one day he would ride to the top and take charge of the country’s border. He was older than her brother, but with him being around, she did not miss her own brother as much. The first few weeks had been difficult. He was shy and never spoke to her. The few times they looked eye-to-eye he moved away with just a faint trace of a smile. It took over a month before they exchanged words but she could always make out his presence in the form of small gifts passed on through either Parvati or Ria. Be it some wild flowers or apricots or some other fruits. She knew that he loved his aaté very much and both spent time chatting and wandering around the valley. Apart from his mother, Pravin had asked Nisha to take especially good care of his brother and Nisha had done her best, though there was nothing much to do.
    Parvati walked a bit behind them. She stopped every now and then to chase the kid and the lamb. She could not leave them at home for fear of dogs; it would be at least a few more months before they could take care of themselves. After a while, she left them; she knew that they would come running behind her if the gap increased. She looked ahead and saw the floating puffs of clouds. They were not the dark clouds that carried rain but she was worried. The monsoon had come in late this year. Last year there was less snowfall and the fields were dry. Finally, Devta, the local deity, was brought to the riverbank, puja was performed, and two lambs were sacrificed; only then had the rains come. But now the rains needed to stop. Maybe another puja and sacrifice were needed.
    Devta held the whole village together, although he was just an idol, a local deity. But when Devta spoke, he provided answers, advice, and solutions to every problem. He spoke through Gur, the village priest, a person selected by him through a ritual when the Devta took possession of his body and soul and announced himself. The Gur interpreted his words and the villagers abided by what he said. The Devta owned land, a pickup van, and a storehouse. The villagers took turns tilling his land and driving his Jeep and earnings were kept in the custody of the temple. Though there were two others, Mother Goddess and the Serpent God, the main god was Samsher. Legend